1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to packaging for cups and more particularly to a package for communion cups which facilitates placement in the cups in a communion tray.
2. Prior Art
Use of individual cups for serving wine or a non-alcoholic beverage as part of the Christian sacrament of communion has been the custom in Protestant churches for many years. Recently, glass cups have been replaced by disposable plastic cups. As theretofore packaged only in tightly nested stacks, such cups are individually hand placed in cup insert holes of a communion tray for filling and then service.
Other than simple nesting, specialized packaging and stacking means for cup shaped containers has been known and in use for many years.
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 13,465 discloses one early example of one such package which is particularly adapted for shipping lamp shades. This package includes a set of horizontal support members having respective openings to secure a lower portion of a shade. The support members are separated by circular spacing members respectively formed by joining scored ends of elongated strips. A series of support members are used to secure a like number of shades in a vertical array in the package.
A tray particularly adapted for storing just washed coffee cups and which then allows vertical stacking of cup filled trays is set out in U.S. Pat. No. 2,941,663. On a top side of each tray is a series of spaced apart projections that fit respectively inside open ends of a set of inverted cups. These projections then form complementary recesses on a bottom side of the tray which fit on top of bottoms of cups on a tray below. Ribs connecting the projections hold the cups above the tray top side to prevent cup contact with any rising liquid on the tray and allow air to circulate inside the cups. U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,659 shows a like tray improved by inclusion of a hole in each projection that promotes air circulation inside the cup.
Another stacking device, which in this case is a pallet, is disclosed U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,429. On a top side of the pallet is a series of projections spaced apart to hold bottoms of a series of cup-shaped containers. On a bottom side of the pallet is a set of ribs defining spaces for respective tops of further containers held by a pallet located below. A further stacking arrangement particularly adapted for culture vessels is set out in U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,314.
Lastly, a pipette tip packing system is disclosed in recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,482. This system includes a card having openings to hold lower ends of a set of pipette tips. The system further includes a transfer plate having a downward extending latching mechanism and a series of downward facing projections. To move a card carrying a set of pipette tips, the plate latching mechanism is inserted into a latching aperture in the card while the plate projections are fitted into open top ends of the pipette tips. Using an upper portion of the latching mechanism as a handle, bottom ends of the pipettes tips are inserted into another set of pipette tips carried by a lower card until the card seats on upper ends of a lower pipette tip set. Upon release of the latching mechanism the card may be removed leaving the pipette tip sets and their respective cards in a stacked relationship.